Monday, December 28, 2009

Cookware.com Contest

Well, my lovely readers, have I got a holiday treat for you! The fine folks at Cookware contacted me about doing a giveaway to my readers.

I've never done a giveaway before, but I figured we could try it out and it might be nice to scoop up something you might not have received for Christmas. Here's the deal:

The Prize: You can choose ANYTHING on the site up to $30 as your prize, including the mixing bowls from Paula Deen Cookware shown above. The site has plenty of kitchen necessities under $30, from knife sets to tea kettles to cookbooks.

The Rules: You have one week to leave a comment on this post telling me your cooking- or eating-related New Year's resolution. My personal resolution is to cook a little healthier in preparation for my wedding, but I'd love to hear yours.

Over the weekend, I'll review the resolutions and announce the winner on Monday. Be clever and creative! At that point, I will ask the winner to e-mail me and we'll negotiate the particulars of getting your prize to your doorstep.

Fine print: Unfortunately, the contest is open only to my readers in the U.S. and Canada (sorry faithful fans in Kazakhstan!). Also, I think it's important for you to know I am receiving nothing from Cookware.com. Think of me as a conduit to your happier cooking experiences!

I'll be linking back to this post throughout the weekend for easy commenting. Please only leave one comment and I can't wait to read your resolutions!

10 comments:

I need new cookware because my cooking-related New Year's resolution is to cook more often so I can avoid baking disasters.

I cooked/baked in a restaurant for about 7 years (through high school and college) and was "dessert queen" for quite a while at the Crabcake House. I would make blueberry cobbler, cheesecake, bread pudding, you name it. I almost never burned things and didn't even need the recipes.

But now, I keep having disasters. My skills have atrophied, I guess.Last week I doubled the recipe for my Pumpkin Bread (it has craisins! It's so good) and subsequently forgot to add the baking powder and baking soda. It was more like pumpkin fudge.

The worst was when I slaved over a three-layer carrot cake (with pineapple, SO GOOD) and from-scratch pink cream cheese frosting. I frosted the cake while my dinner guests watched TV, and then went to serve it. I took a bite and realized I FORGOT THE SUGAR(The cake, not the frosting.

My resolution is to cook at home and bring lunch to work more often to save money. Also, fewer carbs and more protein because even though I have an illness of the digestive tract that causes me not to absorb a lot of nutrients I still eat like a complete idiot far too much of the time.

My new years resolution is to help my wife a little more with the dinners. By a little more, I mean start. Unfortunately for me, when we were buying kitchen supplies for the house, we purchased all pink. Now, normally, I will not mind, but if there are guests coming, and I am going to help my wife cook, or even yet, take over the whole reign, omgosh, WHAT TO WEAR, WHAT TO BEAT WITH, HOW TO STIR, WHERE TO FRY, WHY ARE ALL THE WHISKS, PANS, and CANS PINK!? what will all my friends think =( Realistically though, if I won the giveaway, I'd probably find something my wife could use. She'd be happy I was thinking of her, and it's probably help me get out of helping her cook!

SO SUCKY!! But, I want to participate anyway cause it sounds like fun [who need a reward?!] =)

My New Years resolution food-wise is to learn how to make quick healthy meals in Kazakhstan and create new recipes so that when we go back to America and everything is pre-made I wont be tempted to fall back into old habits and I'll have created new ones! I have one year so lets see how it goes! =)

I got a KitchenAid stand mixer (in the most perfect yellow) from my boyfriend from Christmas and I would like to make at least one new recipe a week using this new beauty! I seriously cannot wait to start using it!! I'm already planning to make breads, sweets, sauces, etc. Now when Martha says "using your paddle attachment to your mixer," I can be ready.

OK, so my resolution is to master atleast one of my mom's famous recipes. I'm talking about the recipes she gaurds with her life, doesn't write down all the ingrediants for, and gets calls requesting at parties.

My favorite recipes that fall in this my-mom-invents-recipes-so-she-doesn't-have-to-share-them category? Ohmygod its so good broccoli soup, my alltime favorite poppyseed chicken casserole, simmer on the stove all day spaghetti, the richest (and heaviest) cheesecake you've ever had, and gooey hot ham and walnut dip.

I'd ask Amber,my roommate, the former restuarant cook to help me out but read her comment above and you'll understand why I don't trust her near my cooking projects. I mean seriously? who forgets sugar in a cake?! It's very awkward. Although, I must say, in her defense, my dad loved the pumpkin fudge.

My resolution is to try some new foods. I've gotten into a cooking rut, but I signed up to have farm fresh produce delivered every other week and that will force me to come up with recipes for new veggies!

This might sound kinda cheesy, but I was inspired by the "Julie & Julia" movie. I want to cook/bake everything in a cookbook...but, then I got to thinking - which cookbook? I certainly don't want to choose (for example) a 500 page Italian cookbook... don't get me wrong - I love me some Italian food, but I just might hit Italian-overload within a week or two! So, I'm going to start with The Pioneer Woman's cook {you know her - right, she is pretty much a cooking *goddess*!!}I think I can manage - not too many recipes - so then I can move on to my larger, more "substantial" Southern Living Cookbook.

P.S. I am also somewhat (okay, very much so) obsessed with baking cookies. So - I think I'll try baking at least 100 different/new cookie recipes this year.

After seven years of living on my own, I am preparing to move back in with my parents. While the initial thought of this scares me stupid, there is one aspect of it that I am thoroughly looking forward to: the opportunity to cook for a family! Cooking and planning meals for one can be difficult and surprisingly not all that cost efficient. It's almost not worth the effort considering all the ingredients that must be purchased to put into a dish regardless of the number of people you plan to feed with it, and all the leftovers that will go to waste when you simply cannot eat the same casserole another night in a row. Cooking only for myself has severely limited the number of balanced meals I eat per week. This year, I vow to pull my weight as a "Boomerang Kid" by planning out meals in advance, preparing a weekly shopping list to take to the store with my mom, and taking the initiative to start cooking dinner so it will be ready by the time the family gets hungry. After all, deciding what to eat can be half the battle, and I want to do all I can to keep my parents from giving into the temptation to spoil me and take me out to dinner.

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